A Crucial Memory
A ''Cr''ucial Memory Episode Five, Season Four, of Cold. Enjoy <3 A Crucial Memory “So we’re allies now.” Frosty purred. “Unfortunately.” I muttered, though I knew we needed the rogue group in order to win this battle against this other force. I looked over my shoulder at my patrol, who was looking uncomfortable and was trying not to attract too much attention. Snowbreeze was chatting with Graystorm, that rogue who had saved her life. By the stars, I need to do something about him too, he shouldn’t be strolling through Clan territory, and ''definitely should not be with my group.'' Sighing, I dipped my head to the leaders, “If the decision is settled, are we done for today?” Blackstar narrowed his eyes slightly, “We should discuss plans with our allies and decide what to do next.” Mistystar looked reluctant about the final verdict, and stood up, “I apologize,” she mewed coldly, “I have a Clan to organize.” She turned and stalked away, and Onestar merely glared at the rogues before turning towards WindClan territory and following Mistystar out. Bramblestar exchanged exasperated glances with Blackstar before turning to apologize to Frosty and Kitkat. “Perhaps you can come back the day after half-moon, and we’ll discuss more of this alliance.” Frosty nodded briskly, “Just keep your Clan mates in check.” She growled. I bristled at her hostile tone, considering she was the one who wanted the alliance in the first place. I opened my mouth to say something, but I ended up choking on a fluffy tail. Kitkat swished by, giving me a flashy smirk before padding after Frosty. I coughed, and dipped my head to the two leaders before backing away. Tessa was looking as though someone had swallowed her mouse and was twitching uncomfortably. Dawnfur was poking her and hissing at her to stop. Graystorm and Snowbreeze were still talking, while Brownhare crouched on the side with his eyes closed. Why can’t I do anything right? I sighed inwardly. “Guys, stop acting like amateurs.” Dawnfur shot me a glare, and I returned it. “Mistystar said something about meeting a new RiverClan cat when she stalked by.” Snowbreeze put in. I raised an eyebrow. “Oh, really?” “Yeah, are you the group I’m supposed to meet?” Everyone froze. Slowly, I turned around to find myself staring at a she-cat. “Who are you?” I asked suspiciously. She blinked, “I’m Willowfur.” Dawnfur eyed her carefully, then shrugged, “Just don’t get comfortable.” She growled. Willowfur just cocked her head and didn’t reply. “I’m Shade,” I introduced myself, “This is Snowbreeze, Dawnfur, Brownhare, Tessa, and...” I stared at Graystorm involuntarily. He looked up. “Oh, I’m Graystorm,” he mewed breezily, waving his tail, “Nice to meet you, Willowfur.” She blinked and nodded curtly to him. Brownhare didn’t stir, but his yellow gaze was still on Willowfur. He didn’t seem interested, but he was obviously trying to judge who she was. “Isn’t the leader of this group, Storm?” I flinched, and Tessa glared sharply at Willowfur. “You’re so ignorant,” Dawnfur sighed, “Obviously you don’t know what happened in the past few weeks.” Willowfur looked slightly confused and irritated, but she seemed to cover it up, “I’m sorry,” she flashed back, “I’m been living in a hole for the past moon.” She rolled her eyes, “You guys always act so special and expect us to drop down and bow to you. I have a life you know?” Dawnfur snorted slightly and turned away, “If we have nothing better to do then sit here and chat, can I go?” I dismissed her and Willowfur stared at me, “Aren’t you dead?” She doesn’t have to sound so straight forward about it... Tessa was looking slightly annoyed now, but she continued to have this thoughtful and furious look on her face. “Of course I am,” I reassured her, “That’s why I’m standing here and issuing orders.” Willowfur didn’t flinch or retreat, but she repeated her statement, “You’re dead. Everyone heard about Storm’s sister who died.” “And nobody informed them that I came back.” I muttered under my breath. With a tense voice, I growled, “Well, I happen to be alive, or else I wouldn’t be here.” “Of course, since you don’t believe in StarClan.” She waved her tail. Muttering, I turned to Graystorm, determined to make one thing right today. “What are you doing here?” I growled at him. He stared back, but his eyes were friendly, “Oh, I’m just visiting and helping.” He mewed nonchalantly. “You seem to needed it.” Grinding my teeth in frustration, I hissed, “Since you’re not part of the group, you should-” “Oh, can’t he stay?” Snowbreeze begged, “He’s not doing any harm and he did save my life earlier.” Why can’t anything go the way I want it to go? “Fine.” I barked, “Go do something useful, all of you.” They dispersed, except for Brownhare and Tessa, who didn’t exactly have anything to do. Graystorm had padded off, no doubt to talk to Snowbreeze, and Dawnfur hadn’t come back from whatever she had left to do. Willowfur had stalked off towards RiverClan once more, and I sat down in peace, not bothered by Brownhare and Tessa’s silence. The ginger she-cat still had a worried and desperate look on her face, and I decided to question her. “Tessa, what’s wrong?” She looked up and sighed, “I’ve been trying to remember something that I heard while I had been part of Frosty and Kitkat’s group.” She murmured, “But I can’t remember what it was.” “We could always ask Frosty and Kitkat.” I pointed out. “I guess...” she looked uncertain, “But I don’t think they would be willing to share something like this. Frosty doesn’t like to talk about everything she does, and I doubt she thinks it’s important.” “Nothing Frosty thinks is important.” I heard Brownhare mutter. Tessa rolled her eyes and mewed, “I can’t grasp the memory,” she groaned, frustrated, “But Frosty definitely had to do with it.” “What about Kitkat?” I asked, “She might be more agreeable.” “Kitkat acts as though she doesn’t care,” Tessa sighed, “She’s not going to give away anything without Frosty’s permission.” “So she’s smarter than she looks.” Brownhare growled. “Unfortunately,” I muttered, “So what do you suggest, Tessa? Unless you can remember, we’re going to have to find some way to wheedle it out from Frosty.” The ginger she-cat shook her head, “I’ll find a way.” ~ An hour later, Tessa and I were seated out in a mini snowstorm, waiting for Frosty to get out of her StarClan-cursed camp. Finally a lithe white shape slipped out of the bramble entrance, followed by a brown and white dotted pelt. “There they are.” We trotted through the storm to meet them, and Frosty hissed, “What do you want? I thought the meeting was scheduled for the day after your ‘half-moon’.” “That doesn’t mean we can’t visit you.” I rolled my eyes. The rest of my group had caught up, and were seated. I narrowed my eyes as I spotted Graystorm once again sitting next to Snowbreeze. What in the world are they talking about? How does Snowbreeze stand talking to him twenty four hours straight? I sighed inwardly and decided it was up to Storm to decide about the rogue. If we get her back. Willowfur was seated apart from the group, her narrowed green eyes glinting in the half light. “Just hurry up and speak.” She mewed, her tone spiked and barbed with poison. Frosty cast a swift glance at the new RiverClan she-cat, then shrugged and mewed, “What do you want, Shade?” The young RiverClan warrior snorted and mewed instead, “We want everything you own, every single piece of prey, and every one of your group.” While Kitkat was staring at Willowfur, I recalled what Mistystar had told me about her. “She’s energetic and certainly a wonderful she-cat. She just became a warrior, and she’s pretty touchy about certain subjects. I’d say you watch out for her sharp tongue.” Willowfur acted like she was queen of the world for such an inexperienced warrior. “We’re not here to do such things,” I sighed, “We wanted your assistance with a problem.” Tessa winced, and Frosty glared at me, “And what is this ‘problem’ we’re talking about?” Before I could reply, Brownhare interrupted, “Can we please discuss this in a warmer and quieter area?” The howling winds were distracting and the cold of the snowstorm was causing us all to shiver. Frosty dipped her head and pivoted on her hind paw. She led the way into her camp and guided us to her den. “Sit.” She ordered, now that we were in her control. Everyone took a seat, and Kitkat immediately curled up in her nest. “I’m going to sleep,” she yawned, “Wake me up if there is something of interest.” Frosty didn’t say anything, but Tessa was glaring sharply at the brown and white she-cat. I leaned over and whispered, “Is something bothering you?” She merely whispered back, “I think Kitkat could give us some important information too.” Frosty’s gaze was on us, so Tessa spoke up. “You have a piece of information that could be important to beating this other rogue group. I can’t quite remember what it was, but it had something to do with you and that rogue group. Some outsider who wanted to use us as a cover.” Instantly, Frosty’s face was an emotionless mask. She looked guarded and she growled, “Why do you want to know this?” “Oh just tell us already!” Dawnfur burst out, “You rogues are always so sneaky, trying to get away with murder and being secretive. You’re not a civilized group, and you never will be. If you want to get your rogues back, you might as well tell Tessa and Shade what they need.” That’s the first time I’ve seen Dawnfur so passionately about me and Tessa. Frosty stared at the cream colored she-cat in surprise, then snorted. “Fine, the only thing I know that might be related to this, is that we had this rogue called Duskshadow who came in, asking for cover. “He wanted to spy on this other rogue group, but of course, I had nothing to do with this. I allowed him to use this rogue as a cover to any spies, and he disappeared.” Frosty paused to take in a breath. “It was a moon later, after Tessa arrived that he managed to give one of our patrolling spies a message.” Tessa leaned forward eagerly. “What did he tell you?” Frosty sighed, “There’s a problem with that. The spy that had it didn’t come back, and Duskshadow was captured.” The silence ringing around the den was deafening. Finally, Brownhare mewed softly, “So you’re saying you don’t know what he was trying to tell you.” Kitkat shook her head, “We’re not sure what happened to the receiver, and I don’t think anyone managed to hear the message before they both disappeared.” Tessa was furrowing her brow, and she muttered, “No, I think I was nearby when the messenger received the message...” She closed her eyes. “But I can’t remember anything.” She huffed in despair. I laid my tail on her flank, “It’s okay, Tessa, we have some time to remember this important message.” She flashed me a look. “You don’t understand!” She turned and stalked out of the den. Oh, by the stars I’m so dense. Of course Tessa cared about whether or not she could remember the message. Storm’s life depends on it. Willowfur watched as Tessa stalked away, then purred, “Shouldn’t you be keeping your cats in check?” I glared at her, and she stared evenly back. I could see that her hostile look was gone, but she wasn’t entirely fitting in with the group. Dawnfur gave her a scathing look, and Frosty coughed politely, “Excuse me, but are you going to leave now? You got what you came for, and well, get out of my camp.” She mewed briskly. Kitkat shot us a smirk as we filed past them, and she added, “And don’t bother coming back!” ~ We found Tessa sitting in her spot by the stream, but Snowbreeze suggested that we left her alone for a bit. Dawnfur didn’t say anything and padded off on her own, while Willowfur headed towards RiverClan herself. Graystorm had disappeared after the meeting, and Snowbreeze looked slightly disappointed. Brownhare settled in his usual spot, since he had no where to go. I sighed and settled down for a quick nap. I had enough with the stupid snowstorm. Before I could fall asleep, there were squeals and fur exploded before my eyes. “Ah, who’s this!” I grunted pushing them aside, “Leave me alone.” “But Shade, we want to play!” I opened my eyes a little wider, and saw Mosskit’s tiny paws. Wavekit was seated next to her, his eyes shining with excitement. Brownhare looked up and saw the kits, his whiskers teaching in amusement. Wavekit poked Brownhare eagerly, “Can you play with us too?” The brown tom laughed, “Sure, Shade will need help just entertaining you two!” He didn’t mention how hard it would be if Stonekit was still here. They bounced up and down, obviously waiting for us to do something. “I’m RiverClan’s leader!” Mosskit squealed, “Wavekit will be loyal deputy and you two are the rogues that we’re defending RiverClan from!” I winced slightly, the kits words reminded me that both Brownhare and I were not Clan cats in this area. “Okay, give us some time to set up our attack.” Brownhare purred, laying his tail on my shoulder. I relaxed slightly and shot him a grateful look and saw that Tessa was coming towards us. She didn’t say anything, and sat down to start grooming. The tension between me and her seemed to be lessening, but she wasn’t looking at me. Mosskit trotted over to Tessa and mewed, “Will you join Shade and Brownhare as the rogue force against RiverClan?” The ginger she-cat tensed, and I hurried over and steered Mosskit away, “If Tessa wants to rest, let her. Two is enough for you two.” But Tessa caught my gaze and mewed, “No, it’s fine, I’ll join you.” Tessa still had a worried look on her face, and I looked over and she mouthed, “I’m sorry about earlier.” I nodded back, and she looked more relieved. Mosskit strutted around in front of the bush, which I suppose was her makeshift camp. Wavekit was positioned next to her, his tail lashing back and forth. We were hidden by a few other bushes so that the two kits couldn’t see where we were. “Okay, we need to devise some plan to get past them and claim the bush as ours.” Brownhare stretched, “Why not send two cats charging straight in, then have the last one sneak past?” Tessa caught on, “I’m pretty good at sneaking around, so you two can by the decoy,” she looked at both of us, “If you don’t mind that is.” She added. I shook my head and mewed, “I’m a terrible stalker, so go ahead.” Brownhare didn’t say anything, so Tessa positioned herself on one side of the bush. “Go!” She whispered as Brownhare and I broke our cover and charged wildly into the clearing. Mosskit flicked her tail and Wavekit leaped forward, instantly swerving around, causing Brownhare and I to become confused on where he was going to attack first. Mosskit had her head up, and she was sniffing the air while swinging around, trying to spot Tessa. She’ll be a great leader one day... Wavekit continued to divert our attention, and Brownhare was trying to swat him aside. Mosskit wasn’t even glancing at us, and I marveled how well they worked together. Finally, I spotted a bit of movement right next to Mosskit. The kit yowled a battle cry and leaped on top of Tessa, and “dragging” her down. The ginger she-cat let out a shriek and pretended to fall over, defeated. Both Brownhare and I couldn’t catch Wavekit, and Mosskit joined the battle. In the end, they were both clinging onto our pelts, hanging on for dear life as we tried to regain our posture. Finally, I sat down and panted, “Okay, okay, you two win.” Wavekit leaped down from Brownhare’s back and let out a yowl of joy, “We won!” Mosskit purred and leaped down too, looking happier than I ever saw her before. Tessa suddenly looked up, “That’s it!” We all stared at her as she sat up. “I remember what Duskshadow was trying to tell Frosty and Kitkat!” Instantly, I was alert and I rushed over to her side, “What was it?” “At midnight of the moon, look down from the high peak.” The End. Category:Cchen3's Fanfics Category:Cold